Alan Parker

October 14, 1996

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Alan Parker is part of a cinema group, one that I like to call the "Mad-as-Hell Society", which includes the Brothers Scott (Ridley and Tony) and Adrian Lyne. Parker was born in Islington, England on February 14, 1944. His first work in film came when he and partner Alan Marshall founded a company that made mostly commercials. Between 1969 and 1978, Parker churned out at over 500 commercials before heading into cinema as a film director. His first major movie was the children's musical, Bugsy Malone (1976), a spoof of gangster films, featuring an all-children cast.

His next work brought him enormous critical acclaim. The prison drama, Midnight Express (1978), earned two Oscars and set Parker on the road to bigger projects. Among them:

Fame (1980), the hit musical that became Parker's second big hit.
Shoot the Moon (1982), a tale about the stormy marriage of one couple (Albert Finney and Diane Keaton) and the effects it has on their family.
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), a film version of the popular rock album.

His recent period of filmaking has offered more ambitious works such as Birdy (1984) and the brooding mystery, Angel Heart (1987). His work in the past eight years has ranged from some outstanding achievements (Mississippi Burning (1988), The Commitments (1991)), to the slightly mundane (Come See The Paradise (1990)). The Road to Wellville (1994), a supposed "comedy", has been the recent nadir on an otherwise brilliant career. I'm hoping he makes a comeback with Evita (1996), a film version of the popular stage musical.

Parker is good at what he does, because of his believeable characters, realistic settings, a fine eye for cinematography and the usually fluid, flawless direction of his work. He has stirred much controversey in the past, the most notorious incident coming from Angel Heart , when Parker took up arms against the MPAA ("Good for him!" I say). Parker is one of the many directors who has the guts and the resources to confound the ratings board's idea of "sane, wholesome" entertainment and go for the gusto. That is what Parker's cinema is all about, in a nutshell.

My rating on a scale of 1 to 10: 8

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